Party Games
by sweetsheart
Summary: Party Games    The Shibusen students of yesteryear have a night of rebellion, romance and revelations. Contains predominantly Young!SteinxYoung!Marie, with some existing Young!SpiritxYoung!Kami, Young!SidxYoung!Naigus and a little bit of Young AzusaxOC.


**A/N: Alright, so, let's presume that they're all 'normal' teenagers, okay? Plus, they're drunk, that'll explain any OOCness. Plus, I made up Kami's last name. It means "child of wisdom and knowledge" or something. Plus, I'm just presuming that everyone but Asuza and the OC are the same age. Asuza's only a couple of years younger than all of them, only because I've always been under the impression that she went to Shibusen with them all due to her friendship with Marie and the whole 'telling on Stein and Spirit' thing when _they_ were in elementary school.**

**The OC is Kaito Grey. He's a one-off OC. **

**One more thing, I just wanted to explain the teenage drinking thing. Yes, they may seem young, but the fact that Maka was born when Spirit was 18 really restricts my timeframe. Because I doubt Kami would have been the type of person to go out and get drunk with a daughter at home.**

**Anyway, enough with that. On with the show!**

"Come on, Yumi, don't be a loser!" the redheaded, now 17-year-old yelled to the relatively shy 15 year old girl.

"I'm not a loser!" Yumi Azusa replied, running quickly to catch up to them. She ran and stood next to her equally as nervous friend Marie Mjolnir, who stood next to Franken Stein. Those three, along with Spirit Albarn, Kami Tomoko, Sid Barrett, Mira Naigus and Kaito Grey, were heading back to Spirit and Kami's apartment after Spirit's birthday celebrations. Kaito was an adequately skilled meister, and was relatively new to Shibusen. He may have been a meister, but he was better known for his charm and good looks. He made good friends with Spirit, but Stein continued to bother him, probably because he wasn't 'cool' enough. He was a bit younger than everyone else, except, of course, for Azusa. He was tall, he had black hair and green eyes, which captivated numerous women.

"It'll be alright, Yumi." Marie said, giggling slightly as they made their way up to the apartment. When they got in there, they all strew themselves around Spirit and Kami's living room. Everyone, that was, except for Spirit.

"Where are they... Aha!" Spirit said, taking the items out of the cupboard. He came back holding two glass bottles, one filled with a golden-brown liquid, the other a clear one.

"Now, the night _really_ begins." Spirit said, placing the bottle of vodka and the bottle of tequila on the table.

"Where the hell did you get that from, Spirit?" Sid asked, his girlfriend Naigus holding onto his arm.

"I stole it from the father's liquor cabinet." Spirit said, smirking.

"Oh, no. My mother forbade me from doing anything like this. It was hard enough convincing her to let me stay over here the night-" Azusa started. The only reason that Azusa's mother let her come was because it was her graduating year – only a few more weeks until she left Shibusen.

"Chill out, Yu. Just close your eyes, open your mind, and drink." Kaito said. Azusa melted at the sight of the striking meister. She felt her face getting warm.

"Oh, yeah, of course, I mean... I don't care what my mother thinks." Azusa said, flicking her hair and pouting her lips slightly. Marie giggled, noticing her friend's crush.

"What are you laughing at?" Stein asked her. Marie turned around abruptly.

"Oh, nothing." Marie said. As she went to say something else, an obnoxious, loud voice rang out.

"Well, are we going to drink or what? To me!" Spirit said, taking the cap off the tequila bottle and taking a long swig. Everyone sat, silently, as Spirit put down the bottle. He coughed slightly, before wiping his mouth and standing there triumphantly.

"Go on!" Spirit said. Kaito stood up.

"Well, you may have your soft liquors, but I'm a vodka man." Kaito said, taking the bottle of vodka and taking a drink. After drinking the beverage without so much as a splutter, Azusa picked up the bottle.

"Here's to rebellion!" Azusa said, placing her lips near the bottle. Even the fumes made her feel funny. However, she had to impress Kaito. She placed the bottle in her mouth and tipped her head back, causing cheers to erupt from the group of teenagers.

As she did so, the vodka stung every square millimetre of her mouth, and it tasted like nothing she'd ever tasted before. She nearly choked on it, but burst through the pain and quickly swallowed it. The fire ran down her throat, and she put the bottle down on the table quickly. As the vodka finished going down, Azusa flicked her head up, her short hair now frizzy. She coughed slightly. She group cheered once again.

"So much for the 'King of Committee,' eh?" Spirit laughed. The whole group was both proud and awestruck at the fact that Azusa had even come within the vicinity of an open bottle of alcohol. They were even more awestruck that she was disobeying her mother.

"Well, we aren't at Shibusen at the moment. Plus, I'm a true rebel at heart." Azusa said, glancing flirtatiously at Kaito. Marie failed to stifle a giggle.

"What?" Azusa glared at her.

"Yumi, I love you, but you're about as rebellious as my grandmother." Marie said. Everyone laughed as Azusa turned a scarlet colour. Sid and Naigus next took the vodka bottle, sharing much of the remainder of it. Spirit insisted on drinking the last of it, however. Kami drunk from the tequila bottle, before handing it to Stein.

Much to Marie's shock, he drank a good third of the remainder in one go, without any hesitation.

"Stein?" Marie asked? Stein wiped his mouth and handed the bottle to her.

"I lived with Spirit. I'm used to it. I haven't got much tolerance for it though." Stein said. Marie just nodded. Alcohol wasn't a field she knew much about. Marie looked down at the bottle. Stein looked at her.

"Look, Marie, I usually wouldn't say this, but Spirit'll ridicule you if you don't drink. And, Azusa had some. And she's Azusa." Stein said.

"Yeah..." Marie said.

"Look, just close your eyes and... pretend it's cola." Stein said. Marie cocked an eyebrow. However, it was the best idea she had gotten. She closed her eyes and placed the bottle between her lips. She threw her head backwards. The tequila hit her lips and tastebuds.

"_It's cola. It's cola... It's tequila!"_ Marie thought to herself, nearly gagging on the alcohol. However, she hadn't realised that the tequila she had forced down was more than the quantity Stein had drunk. She put down the bottle and coughed. Stein looked at her.

"Not bad. Especially for someone who spends as little time with Spirit and his crony as you." Stein said. Kaito glared at Stein.

"Watch it, Stein." Kaito said. Stein rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, guys, there's more where that came from." Spirit said. After a few minuted of banter between the buzzed teens, Spirit spoke up once again.

"Alright, who's up for some party games?" Spirit asked, slightly crazily. The teenagers didn't drink long enough ago for the alcohol to have absorbed into their systems. However, the psychological effects of alcohol were probably going to be more effective than the actual drink. It was even having an effect on Azusa, who was usually the most level-headed and empirical of the group. It was nice to see the other side of her.

"Yeah! Come on, guys!" Kami said, giggling. Spirit, Kaito and Sid all moved the furniture to the edge of the room, and the teenagers all sat in a circle.

"Truth or dare?" Kami asked, leaning against her boyfriend, the birthday boy.

"Sounds like a good idea." Mira giggled, sitting next to Sid and holding onto his arm.

"Alright, as it's _my_ birthday, I say... Kaito! Truth or Dare?" Spirit said.

"I choose... dare!" Kaito said, sitting back triumphantly, like it was the bravest deed ever performed. Choosing a dare first was a rarity.

"Alright then... I dare you to... hmm..." Spirit thought. Marie looked at Kaito and Azusa.

"Kaito should kiss Yumi! Oh!" Marie said, her hands flying up to her mouth as she said so.

"That's not a bad idea, Marie. Kaito, you have to kiss Yumi. On the lips." Spirit said, his words lingering. Kaito looked at the still red Azusa. It was half from embarrassment due to Marie's comment, half from the alcohol which was slowly taking effect. Kaito scooted over closer to Azusa.

"You ready?" Kaito asked. Azusa nodded. Kaito slid his hand under Azusa's jaw and pressed his lips against hers, causing the group of teenagers to hoot. His lips parted as hers did and he pressed up against her, causing her to lean backwards on her arms. The need for oxygen became too much and they parted, a smile crawling across Azusa's face. She sat up, even more red than before. Kaito resumed his seat, a smug grin accompanying him.

"Alright, then..." Kaito looked around the circle. He decided to pick on the person he constantly picked on anyway.

"Ah! Stein, truth or dare?" Kaito asked. Stein's eyes widened.

"Wha-" Stein asked.

"Go on, Stein!" Spirit said.

"Fine... truth." Stein said, crossing his arms.

"Ah, you wuss." Spirit said.

"Shut up." Stein said to Spirit, warranting himself an eye-roll from the birthday boy.

"Right, Stein... what is the most embarrassing story that you have about someone in this circle? Except for me, of course." Kaito said, sitting back.

"_Of course._" Stein said to himself. He thought back at moments which may have been embarrassing. He went around the circle... Marie? No, he liked her. He did have a few embarrassing stories about her, but it really wouldn't be worth it. She might hit him. Kaito, well, he'd deemed himself exempt. Azusa... well, after her last show, he wasn't going to pick on her. Then, he got to Spirit.

"I know. Well, back when I was living with Spirit..." Stein said.

"What?" Spirit said.

"Let him finish." Marie snapped.

"Fine, fine." Spirit said.

"Alright, like I said, when I was living with Spirit, Kami would frequent our apartment for... well, let's just say, _romantic rendezvous_." Stein said, causing the group, bar Spirit and Kami, to laugh.

"Well, one weekend, after Kami had rushed out, I heard Spirit saying something to himself. So, I went to investigate." Stein said. Spirit's face went bright red when he realised the story.

"I'm going to _kill_ you, Franken Stein." Spirit said, trying to stand up. Kami held onto his arms and pulled him backwards.

"Anyway, I walked into Spirit's room, and he had obviously decided that it was a good idea to try on a piece of clothing Kami had left behind." Stein smirked. Spirit was turning bright red.

"What was it, Stein?" Marie asked.

"Well, let's put it this way. Spirit does _not_ look good in a bra." Stein said. The whole group, even Kami, broke out into laughter.

"Stein!" Spirit said.

"And what was the song you were singing? _Time after Time_ if I'm not mistaken." Stein said, causing the group to erupt into laughter once again.

"I hate you, Stein." Spirit snarled.

"Happy birthday, man." Stein said, sitting back. Marie, in an uncontrollable fit of laughter, fell on Stein.

"Hello." Stein laughed.

"H-Hi." Marie said, looking up at him. She sat up, rather abruptly, and tried to stop laughing.

"Come on, Stein. Just choose, damn it." Spirit said.

"Alright, alright... Go on then, Sid, truth or dare?" Stein asked.

The teenagers played a few more rounds of Truth or Dare, involving the chicken dance, childhood confessions and an odd story to do with scarecrows. More alcohol had made its way into the living room, and the teenagers were now heading towards drunkenness. Spirit eventually became sick of the fact that a lot of the stories being told implicated him in a less than positive way.

"Come on, can't we play a different game?" Spirit asked. The teenagers, with their low tolerance for alcohol, were all balancing precariously on the border between tipsy and drunk.

"Why... why don't we play strip quiz?" Kaito hiccupped.

"What the hell is that?" Stein asked, fairly certain that Kaito had just made the game up on the spot.

"Well, basically, you get asked a question, you get it wrong, and you lose a piece of clothing." Kaito said.

"Are you sure this isn't just a ploy to get us naked?" Naigus asked.

"Would I do such a thing? Plus, if you get the question right, you stay clothed. Isn't that fair enough?" Kaito said.

"I'll go first! Kami, a sound soul dwells within a sound _what_ and sound body?" Spirit asked.

"That's easy, Spirit. It's... oh..." Kami's tipsiness must have dulled her memory skills.

"Can't you answer, Kami?" Spirit asked.

"It's... It's... Damn!" Kami said.

"Come on, piece off!" Spirit said, loudly. Kami smirked at him, removing the clip from her hair.

"There." Kami smiled. She looked knowingly at Azusa, Marie and Naigus. They all giggled, Spirit was obviously disappointed at the fact that he was outsmarted.

"Go on, Kami, ask a damn question." Spirit said, disgruntled at his girlfriend's state of clothing.

"Alright, then... Marie. Who was eliminated off of Nevada Star last week?" Kami asked.

"That's easy, it was Daisy. I loved her, too!" Marie said, smiling at Kami.

"That's not fair!" Kaito said.

"Calm down, Kaito. Just because you want to get us girls naked doesn't mean you have to get hissy about it." Naigus said. The girls all giggled.

"No! I swear! Marie... ask a question!" Kaito said, getting slightly uncomfortable.

"Fine, fine. Stein, uh... oh! What's the nickname all the Shibusen students give to Tomoko-sensei?" Marie asked, referring to the students' soul perception teacher. Stein raised an eyebrow.

"Oh... I...I can't remember for the life of me." Stein said to Marie.

"Oh my... Sorry! I didn't mean to ask you a question you didn't know, I thought you would have known! And it's not like I want to get you naked or anything, I mean, I'm sure you look very nice naked, but it's not my intention, my apologies, Stein..." Marie fretted.

"Wait a second. Did you just say you're sure I look good naked?" Stein smirked. Marie turned a scarlet colour.

"No!" Marie said, punching Stein playfully in the arm.

"I think you did, Marie." Naigus said.

"Oh! Marie wants to see Stein naked!" Spirit exclaimed.

"Marie likes Stein!" Kaito said. Marie closed her eyes and gave a breathy laugh, leaning against Stein in defeat. Stein put his arm around Marie.

"It's alright, Marie. Don't listen to them." Stein smiled slightly. Marie, trying to ignore the fact that they were right, simply nodded.

A few more rounds went past, and embarrassment was of a top priority. After the group couldn't come up with anymore questions, they decided to stop playing. Azusa was still fully clothed, Kami had lost her hairclip and her bracelet, Sid had lost his headband, Naigus had lost a hair tie, Stein had lost his glasses and his shirt (thanks to a really obscure question from Azusa), Marie had lost both of her shoes, and Kaito was down to just his jeans and boxers. However, if Spirit got one more question wrong, he'd be completely naked. So, changing the game was the best idea at that time. For _everyone_.

Spirit went and picked up the empty vodka bottle from the table and placed it in the middle of the circle.

"Spin the bottle, anyone? Make the game a bit more... adult? Whoever the bottle lands on, them and the spinner have to go for seven minutes in heaven." Spirit said, winking slightly.

"Go on, then." Kaito said, coolly.

"Kami, do you want to go first?" Spirit asked.

"Alright." Kami said, taking the bottle and giving it a swift spin. The bottle seemed to rotate for ages, until it finally stopped, much to Spirit's dismay.

"Mira?" Spirit asked. Kami and Naigus nodded at each other knowingly. Kami put out her hand, and stood up with Naigus. Spirit and Sid, their respective boyfriends, could do nothing but watch on in shock as Kami and Naigus wrapped their arms around each other, walking off into Kami's bedroom. As they shut the door, they released their grips and giggled quietly.

"Come on. Let's really freak them out." Kami said. Naigus nodded and pushed herself against the wall with a loud thump.

"What was that?" Spirit worried. Sid had worked out that the girls were faking it, but decided not to let on to the fact.

"Are they..." Sid pretended to worry. He turned to the rest of the circle and winked at them causing them to all stifle giggles.

"What are you laughing at?" Spirit fretted.

"Well, Spirit, maybe yours and Sid's girlfriends really bat for the other team." Marie smirked, still leaning against Stein. As they continued to banter, Spirit walked over to the door and pressed his ear up against it. Kami and Naigus continued to giggle, adding to their charade. Kami pushed herself against the wall, loudly, and then began to shout.

"Mira, your hands are cold!" she squealed. Naigus giggled, and from the bed, yelled as well.

"Well, then, let me warm then up for you, baby." Naigus said to her. Spirit decided that was enough.

"Alright, your time is up, please put your clothes back... on?" Spirit said, opening his eyes to see Kami and Naigus on opposite sides of the room. Naigus jumped off the bed and walked past Spirit, flicking him in the forehead.

"You're awfully gullible, Mr Albarn." Naigus said, walking back over to Sid, who simply high-fived Naigus and took her back in his arms. After the score was settled, they all sat back down in the circle.

"Alright... Marie! Come on, you have a go." Kami said. Marie sat up abruptly.

"Do I have to?" Marie said.

"Yes, yes you do." Naigus replied. Marie rolled her eyes and spun the bottle indifferently. The bottle spun several times before landing on the shirtless, silver haired meister sitting next to her. They both looked at the bottle in shock.

"Aha! Stein, Marie, you two have fun!" Spirit said, standing up and dragging them both into his bedroom.

"Right, I'm starting the timer... now!" Spirit said, slamming the door on them. Stein and Marie looked at each other.

"Hi." Marie said, rubbing her arm nervously.

"Hey." Stein said. He walked over to Spirit's bed and flopped down onto it. Marie walked over as well and flopped down next to him. They lay there, virtually silently, for nearly the entire time. Even though they weren't that way involved, they were still good friends. Marie looked over at Stein. There was no denying it – Stein was hot. She eventually bit her bottom lip and began to speak.

"You do know what we're supposed to be doing in here, right?" Marie giggled. Stein sat up slightly, glancing down at Marie. He was a teenage boy. Like any other teenage boy, he had...urges.

"Well... yeah." Stein said, looking down at the timid looking Marie. They both began to laugh, rather uncontrollably.

"We... are tipsy." Marie giggled. Stein, who stopped laughing, watched her as her cheekbones were outlined by her smile and her eyes lit up. Marie stopped laughing as she looked up at the coincidentally half-naked meister above her. She took a deep breath as she wrapped her arms around Stein's neck, pulling their lips together, passionately and uninhibitedly. Marie pulled Stein down on top of her, the warmth of his torso pressing against her blouse. They heard the door open and a familiar voice begin to speak.

"You guys, time's up." Naigus said.

"Go away!" Marie giggled, pulling away from Stein for two seconds.

"Okay!" Naigus smirked, shutting the door quickly and pressing her back against the wall, chuckling. She walked back out to the group.

"Hey, where are Stein and Marie?" Sid asked.

"Well... it's best you don't go into your room, Spirit." Naigus giggled. Spirit stood up and walked to his door. In his loudest voice, he yelled into them.

"Get in there, Stein!" Spirit laughed. Stein heard him, but shook his head, and went back to his tryst with Marie.

"Well, so much for _that_ game." Kami said.

"Maybe we should follow their lead, Sid..." Naigus said, slipping her hands into Sid's back pockets. She and Sid walked into Kami's bedroom and locked the door.

"Hey!" Kami said. Spirit walked over to Kami.

"You know..." he said, slipping his arms around Kami's waist, "We could go in the spare room..." Kami smirked at him and pulled him into the spare room. All of the couples left, until there was only Azusa and Kaito left.

"You know... we could..." Kaito said.

"I'll take the couch, you take the bathtub. Goodnight, Kaito." Azusa said, pointing to the bathroom. Kaito was going to retaliate, but he decided against it. He walked begrudgingly to the bathroom, while Azusa went to get ready to sleep on the couch.

"Oh. Blankets." Azusa said to herself. She went to Spirit's room, where Marie and Stein were, and pressed her ear up against the door. After hearing the odd and highly inappropriate sounding moans and pants, she decided that it wasn't the room to go to. She walked across to the room which enclosed Sid and Naigus. However, the banging on the wall really put her off. She, desperately, walked over to the room where Kami and Spirit were staying. About 5 metres before she got to the door, she thought to herself.

"_If Stein and Marie and Sid and Naigus are... you know... then I'm not even going to chance them."_ Azusa thought. She then, highly reluctantly, walked into the bathroom. She looked down at Kaito, and tried to stifle a laugh when she saw him stuffed in the bath.

"Comfortable there?" Azusa asked.

"Oh, ha, ha." Kaito said.

"I'm sorry, but you aren't sleeping in the same room as me. I don't want to wake up tomorrow with regrets." Azusa said.

"Wow." Kaito replied.

"What?" Azusa asked.

"You really haven't ever had alcohol before." Kaito smirked.

"No, I haven't." Azusa replied.

"The point of alcohol is to have fun. But, with this fun comes regret. Usually. There is a rare occasion where it eventuates in something good. Tonight, it's dorky Stein and Marie finally getting together." Kaito said.

"Mmhm. Sure." Azusa smirked at him, took a towel from the cupboard and walked out, shutting the door. She went over to the couch she had set up on, laid down and put the towel over her. She closed her eyes, well in the knowledge that she was one of the few partygoers who wasn't going to regret their actions the morning after.

Well, that's what she thought, anyway.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

The next morning, Azusa woke up, her body warm and her head pounding. She looked at the clock on the wall: 11:34 am.

"Oh, my... AH!" Azusa said, falling off the couch as she looked behind her. A shirtless, sleeping Kaito was sprawled out on the couch that she had slept on.

"Oh, no... I didn't... I couldn't..." Azusa said to herself, her head pounding and her eyes wide. As she went to kneel over to Kaito, to check on him, his green eyes bolted open. Azusa screamed. Kaito sat up and laughed.

"Oh! I really got you good there, Yu." Kaito said, sitting up.

"Did we..." Azusa began.

"No, no, no. We didn't. Calm down. I got cold in the bath. And I decided that it wasn't a good idea to approach any of the other rooms." Kaito said. Azusa laughed, before her face turned slightly more serious.

"Don't scare me like that!" Azusa said, punching Kaito playfully on the arm.

"Sorry. How are you feeling?" Kaito asked, standing up.

"Like my head's been run over by a truck." Azusa said, flopping back down on the couch.

"Coffee?" Kaito said, walking over to Spirit and Kami's kitchenette and began boiling the kettle.

"Yeah, thanks." Azusa said, sitting up slightly as a bleary-eyed Naigus emerged from Kami's room.

"Hey, guys." Naigus said, raspily.

"What on Earth were you and Sid up to last night?" Azusa asked.

"We didn't _do_ anything... we _may_ have knocked some books off of Kami's shelf, though. Sid threw a pillow at me!" Naigus said, sitting down next to Azusa. Azusa remembered the noises she heard from Naigus and Sid's room.

"_So that's what it was._" Azusa said, slightly relieved. However, there was no way the noises coming from Stein and Marie's room had anything to do with shelving.

"You up for a coffee, Mira?" Kaito said.

"You hold your alcohol _much_ too well for a 16 year old, Kaito. But sure." Naigus said, lying back on the couch. Not long after Naigus had finished talking, Sid, Kami and Spirit walked out of their respective rooms.

"Morning, guys." Azusa said to them.

"So, did you get any last night, Spirit?" Kaito asked. Kami glared at him and interrupted Spirit when he went to reply.

"Well, he _might_ have gotten some last night, but he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow." Kami said. The group erupted into laughter.

Meanwhile, in Spirit's bedroom, Stein had awoken with a thumping in his head and a scantily-clad, sleeping young woman next to him. He remembered everything that had happened the night before. He sat up and scratched his head. Marie awoke to his stirring and a terrible feeling which seemed to run through her entire body.

"Oh... it's so bright in here." Marie said. Stein laid down next to her, turning her away from the window, hugging her close and pulling to covers over them.

"Better?" Stein asked.

"Mmhm. You know how to deal with this way too well." Marie said.

"Like I said last night, been with Spirit way too long." Stein said. Marie smirked.

"Well... that's not _all_ you said last night, is it?" Marie giggled. Stein chuckled.

"No. No it wasn't." Stein replied. The two laid there for a little while, their hangovers failing to dull.

"We should get up." Marie said. She slipped out of bed and outstretched her arms. It was cold outside the bed, however, her current state of warmth was related to the fact that she only had a pair of underwear on. She collected her singlet and tights, pulling them on. Stein had redressed as well, and he walked over and wrapped his arm around Marie's waist.

"Here goes." Marie said.

"Indeed." Stein said.

"First steps out of this room being non-virgins." Marie said. Stein chuckled.

"When you put it that way..." Stein said. Marie giggled. She turned the door handle and cracked the door open.

Naigus was sitting on the couch, the opposite direction to everyone else, and saw when the relatively timid looking couple finally emerged.

"Well, I know a couple of people who _did_ get some last night." Naigus said. The group spun around to see Stein and Marie, their arms round one another, with the 'deer-in-headlights' look on their faces. The group began to clap and cheer. Marie looked embarrassed and buried her head into Stein's chest. Kami grabbed Marie and Spirit grabbed Stein, and they each pulled one of the lovers over to their respective gender groups.

"Stein, you dog!" Spirit said, punching him in the arm.

"Uh..." Stein said.

"I can't believe you finally got with Mjolnir." Kaito said, punching him in the arm.

"Can we stop with the punching?" Stein asked, croakily.

"Ah, young grasshopper. I remember my first time..." Spirit said.

"Yeah, and it's _really_ not something we have to talk about right now." Stein said.

"Ah, I see. You want to talk about yours!" Spirit said.

"No, I _really_ don't." Stein said.

Meanwhile the girls were off talking to a tired, slightly hungover Marie.

"Marie!" Kami said, hugging her tightly.

"H-Hi, Kami." Marie said, tiredly. Her head hurt. She and Stein hadn't drunk as much as the others, but she was still slightly hungover.

"So... how was it?" Azusa asked.

"What?" Marie said, trying to act ignorant.

"We all heard, Marie. _Everything._" Naigus said. Marie blushed once again.

"Oh..." Marie said.

"So, come on, Marie. Spill." Naigus said. Marie's eyes darted, meeting Stein's across the room. He shot her a sympathetic look before being berated by the rest of the guys.

"Well... I don't really know. It was kind of awkward at first." Marie said, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"And then...?" Kami asked.

"You know, I don't get on you guys like this after you've been with Sid or Spirit." Marie said.

"Yeah, but you're a newbie." Kami said.

"So were you, once!" Marie replied.

"But you missed your chance. So, come on, what was it like after it was awkward?" Naigus asked. Marie rolled her eyes.

"Fine... It wasn't really like I'd imagined... I mean, I didn't really know what to do." Marie said.

"How was he?" Naigus asked. Marie bit her bottom lip.

"I don't know..." Marie said, smirking and rubbing her arm.

"So he was good, no?" Kami asked. Marie looked up.

"Uh...um...oh..." Marie said, rendered virtually speechless. Kami got up.

"That good, eh?" she said, walking over to Spirit. Marie sat, not knowing quite how to respond. She, Azusa and Naigus walked over to the group of boys. Marie walked up and began to listen to what Spirit, who obviously wasn't aware of her presence, was saying.

"So, Stein, did you make her scream?" Spirit asked. Marie crossed her arms and coughed loudly. Stein began to smirk.

"What are you smirking at?" Spirit asked him. Stein pointed behind Spirit. He turned around and looked at the rather angry, blonde young woman who was glaring at him.

"Hi, M-Marie." Spirit said.

"Hi, Spirit." Marie said.

"Uh... about what I said before..." Spirit said.

"You only need to know one thing about what happened in your room last night." Marie said.

"And what's that?" Spirit asked. Marie glanced over at Stein and he just nodded. Stein walked over to Spirit and slapped his hand down on his shoulder. He leant down and whispered in Spirit's ear.

"You should probably change the sheets." Stein said, patting Spirit on the back and walking over to Marie. Spirit's face turned to pure horror.

"I hate you guys!" Spirit yelled, Kami standing next to him, holding his hand and trying not to giggle. Stein went over to Marie, who was now sitting down on the couch.

"You okay? How's your head?" Stein asked, sitting down next to Marie. She flopped down onto his lap.

"It's alright, thanks." Marie said, closing her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Stein asked.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm alright." Marie said. Stein brushed Marie's hair out of her face.

"What about you? Are you alright?" Marie asked.

"Yeah, yeah. There's nothing like psychologically scarring Spirit to brighten my day." Stein replied. Marie smiled up at Stein.

"So, overall, how would you say your birthday went, Spirit?" Sid asked.

"Well, considering the embarrassing stories that were told about me, the state of dress I was reduced to, and the fact that some unholy things happened in my room... It was pretty good." Spirit said.

"Except for the fact that Yumi's mother is going to kill her if she ever finds out what happened." Naigus said.

"Oh, please don't remind me." Azusa said, her head continuing to pound.

"Sorry." Naigus said. The group of friends sat down on the couches in the living room, nursing sore heads and cups of coffee. Spirit and Kami sat together, a seemingly odd couple, but still strong. Sid and Naigus sat together; they seemed to just...fit. Kaito and Azusa sat on the same couch, but not together, a couple who could have been but weren't. And Stein sat with Marie laying on his lap, the two quirky kids who were together because they didn't quite fit anywhere else. A group of comrades.

When they started at Shibusen, they were all separate. They didn't know each other, they didn't know themselves. And it took some of them longer to know each other than most. But they were all finally together, a group of people that could, for the most part, call each other 'friends.'

And it was all because of alcohol and a couple of party games.


End file.
